{"id":19051,"date":"2022-02-02T05:45:51","date_gmt":"2022-02-02T10:45:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/?p=19051"},"modified":"2022-02-02T05:45:51","modified_gmt":"2022-02-02T10:45:51","slug":"contrary-to-industry-hype-survey-says-this-is-not-the-golden-age-of-tv-the-25-best-tv-shows-of-all-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2022\/02\/contrary-to-industry-hype-survey-says-this-is-not-the-golden-age-of-tv-the-25-best-tv-shows-of-all-time.html","title":{"rendered":"Contrary to industry hype, survey says this is not the Golden Age of TV + The 25 Best TV Shows of All-Time"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<h3><strong>Here&#8217;s the latest from the crossroads of faith, media &amp; culture: 02\/02\/22<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><iframe title=\"Best TV Shows Of All-Time: \u2018Friends\u2019 Beats Out \u2018Seinfeld\u2019 As Greatest Ever!\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/q1GC4zClo_M?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>More is less.\u00a0<\/strong>The media would have us believe this era of Peak TV (when more television shows are being produced across more platforms) than ever before) is also a <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Golden_Age_of_Television_(2000s%E2%80%93present)\">new Golden Age of Television<\/a> in which the the abundance of programming is being matched by quality. The numbers tell a different story.<\/p>\n<p>A survey commissioned by <strong>YouTube<\/strong> finds that a whopping 7% of the 2000 adults responding think that we are currently living the best era of television with the vast majority generally preferring series before the year 2000 to most of what&#8217;s being presented to the public as entertainment now.<\/p>\n<div class=\"pa-observer-px\">Out of a list of 35 iconic TV shows over the decades to choose from, the two shows most often cited as favorites are nineties hits <strong><em>Friends<\/em><\/strong> (43%) and <strong><em>Seinfeld <\/em><\/strong>(40%). Other chart toppers include <strong><em>Three&#8217;s Company <\/em><\/strong> (36%) and <strong><em>M*A*S*H <\/em><\/strong>(35%) from the seventies, <em><strong>Frasier<\/strong><\/em> (36%) also from nineties and the post-2000 hits <em><strong>Game of Thrones <\/strong><\/em>(37%) and\u00a0 <em><strong>The Office <\/strong><\/em>(36%). You can check out the top 20 finishers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.studyfinds.org\/best-tv-shows-friends-seinfeld\/\">here<\/a>.<\/div>\n<div>The survey also got into why people prefer some shows over others &#8211; finding that 60% care more about a show\u2019s cast and writing than they do the aesthetic (46%) or plot (46%). 65% of the respondents say the shows they enjoy most feature characters that tend to remind them of people they know, including family members (62%), close friends (59%), or their significant others (52%). Nearly three-quarters (72%) associate their favorite shows with good memories.<\/div>\n<div>Connecting the dots, I think the data can be translated to suggest that most people enjoy shows with characters who are relatable and, perhaps flawed &#8211; but, like their own loved ones, are ultimately likable, good and (whatever their flaws) redeemable.<\/div>\n<div>People also want writing that delivers perceptive insights about the human condition that also leans toward promoting kindness, tolerance, celebrating historic heroes who have overcome evil (rather than focusing on the evil itself), hope for the future and other timeless values. Why else would they say their favorite shows have provided them with good memories? In essence, people are drawn to storytelling that nurtures what is good in all of us. They don&#8217;t want to be left angry, bitter or shamed &#8211; which is why there&#8217;s unlikely to be much nostalgia for most of what&#8217;s being broadcast or streamed today.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><strong>The poll actually inspired me to construct my own list of my 25 All-Time Favorite TV Shows (below), unconstrained by the survey&#8217;s 35 options.<\/strong> The list is slightly longer than YouTube&#8217;s Top 20 because, well, it&#8217;s my list. Of the survey&#8217;s top finishers only <em>Frasier<\/em> and <em>M*A*S*H <\/em>make it onto mine. Of the other chart toppers, I enjoyed <em>Friends<\/em> and <em>Seinfeld<\/em> in their early seasons when I found the scripts sharper and the characters more likable. I actually started my career working for the production company that produced <em>Three&#8217;s Company<\/em> (though after the show had wrapped). While it is a funny show with likable characters and can legitimately be called a classic of its genre, it doesn&#8217;t quite make my list. Meanwhile, <em>Game of Thrones<\/em> is too violent and dark for my taste and, while <em>The Office<\/em> can be funny, I&#8217;ve grown tired of the mockumentary format in general.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<p>Overall though, as a fairly average person who actually loves a good well-constructed TV show, I have found that my personal taste is generally a pretty good reflection of the broad audience. With some updating (i.e. more diversity), I think these shows represent a goodhearted non-angry\/non-shaming tone of quality programming that networks and streamers would be wise to draw some inspiration from.<\/p>\n<p>The bottom line is this. Too much modern TV has become depressing. People are burned out on the disheartening gloom. They want to want to be entertained and uplifted, not scolded and lectured to by smug self-righteous virtue signalers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>My 25 All-Time Favorite TV Shows<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<ol>\n<li><strong><em>All in the Family<\/em> (CBS, 1971-79) <\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Batman<\/em> (ABC, 1966-68<\/strong>)<\/li>\n<li><strong><em>The Big Bang Theory<\/em> (CBS, 2007-19)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Columbo<\/em> (NBC, 1971-78\/ABC, 1989-2003)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><em>The Dick Van Dyke Show<\/em> (CBS, 1961-66)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Everybody Loves Raymond<\/em> (CBS, 1996-2005)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Frasier<\/em> (NBC, 1993-2004)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><em>The Fugitive<\/em> (ABC, 1963-67)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Get Smart<\/em> (NBC\/CBS &#8211; 1965-70)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Green Acres<\/em> (CBS, 1965-71)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><em>The Honeymooners<\/em> (CBS, 1955-56)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><em>I Love Lucy<\/em> (CBS, 1951-57)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><em>JAG<\/em> (NBC\/CBS, 1995-2005)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Kojak<\/em> (CBS, 1973-78)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Lois &amp; Clark: The New Adventures of Superman<\/em> (ABC, 1993-97)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><em>M*A*S*H<\/em> (CBS, 1972-83)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Mom<\/em> (CBS, 2013-2021)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><em>NYPD Blue<\/em> (ABC, 1993-2005)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Quantum Leap<\/em> (NBC, 1989-93)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><em>The Rockford Files<\/em> (NBC, 1974-80)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Star Trek<\/em> (NBC, 1966-69)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Taxi<\/em> (ABC\/NBC, 1978-83)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Touched by an Angel<\/em> (1994-2003)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><em>The Twilight Zone<\/em> (CBS, 1959-64)<\/strong><strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Young Sheldon<\/em> (2017-present)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div><strong><em><span class=\"st\">Encourage one another and build each other up &#8211; <\/span><\/em><span class=\"st\">1 Thessalonians 5:11<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here&#8217;s the latest from the crossroads of faith, media &amp; culture: 02\/02\/22 More is less.\u00a0The media would have us believe this era of Peak TV (when more television shows are being produced across more platforms) than ever before) is also a new Golden Age of Television in which the the abundance of programming is being&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":225,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,1],"tags":[12790,230],"class_list":["post-19051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-television","category-uncategorized","tag-25-best-tv-shows-of-all-time","tag-youtube"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Contrary to industry hype, survey says this is not the Golden Age of TV + The 25 Best TV Shows of All-Time<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Contrary to industry hype, survey says this is not the Golden Age of TV + The 25 Best TV Shows of All-Time\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here&#8217;s the latest from the crossroads of faith, media &amp; culture: 02\/02\/22 More is less.\u00a0The media would have us believe this era of Peak TV (when more television shows are being produced across more platforms) than ever before) is also a new Golden Age of Television in which the the abundance of programming is being&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2022\/02\/contrary-to-industry-hype-survey-says-this-is-not-the-golden-age-of-tv-the-25-best-tv-shows-of-all-time.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Faith, Media &amp; Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-02-02T10:45:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John W. Kennedy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Contrary to industry hype, survey says this is not the Golden Age of TV + The 25 Best TV Shows of All-Time","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"nofollow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Contrary to industry hype, survey says this is not the Golden Age of TV + The 25 Best TV Shows of All-Time","og_description":"Here&#8217;s the latest from the crossroads of faith, media &amp; culture: 02\/02\/22 More is less.\u00a0The media would have us believe this era of Peak TV (when more television shows are being produced across more platforms) than ever before) is also a new Golden Age of Television in which the the abundance of programming is being&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2022\/02\/contrary-to-industry-hype-survey-says-this-is-not-the-golden-age-of-tv-the-25-best-tv-shows-of-all-time.html","og_site_name":"Faith, Media &amp; Culture","article_published_time":"2022-02-02T10:45:51+00:00","author":"John W. Kennedy","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2022\/02\/contrary-to-industry-hype-survey-says-this-is-not-the-golden-age-of-tv-the-25-best-tv-shows-of-all-time.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2022\/02\/contrary-to-industry-hype-survey-says-this-is-not-the-golden-age-of-tv-the-25-best-tv-shows-of-all-time.html","name":"Contrary to industry hype, survey says this is not the Golden Age of TV + The 25 Best TV Shows of All-Time","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-02-02T10:45:51+00:00","dateModified":"2022-02-02T10:45:51+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/e5d5ef9caeb6b01bcbf08ca6de6591c2"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2022\/02\/contrary-to-industry-hype-survey-says-this-is-not-the-golden-age-of-tv-the-25-best-tv-shows-of-all-time.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2022\/02\/contrary-to-industry-hype-survey-says-this-is-not-the-golden-age-of-tv-the-25-best-tv-shows-of-all-time.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2022\/02\/contrary-to-industry-hype-survey-says-this-is-not-the-golden-age-of-tv-the-25-best-tv-shows-of-all-time.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Contrary to industry hype, survey says this is not the Golden Age of TV + The 25 Best TV Shows of All-Time"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/","name":"Faith, Media &amp; Culture","description":"Beliefnet Voices - John W. Kennedy","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/e5d5ef9caeb6b01bcbf08ca6de6591c2","name":"John W. Kennedy","description":"John W. Kennedy is the founder and Dir. of Development of The Creative Universe Entertainment\u2122, a media consultation and development company focusing on the creation, development and support of high-quality mainstream entertainment that upholds positive timeless values, including trust in God. Current projects include \"Bryant Park\" (an uplifting romantic-comedy) and \"Photo Finish\" (an award-winning sci-fi TV pilot). He has written over 100 children's novels based on episodes of the Cartoon Network series \"Ben 10\", \"Ben 10: Alien Force\", \"Ben 10: Ultimate Alien\", \"Ben 10: Omniverse\" and \"Generator Rex\" among others. He also writes Beliefnet\u2019s \"Faith, Media &amp; Culture\" blog. Previously, he has produced successful news and talk programming for CNN, Fox News, Pax TV and SiriusXM. Specialties: Script Writing, Movie\/TV Novelizations &amp; Adaptations, TV Content Creation and Development, Creative Consultation, Producing and Booking News and Talk shows. He can be reached for writing, producing and consulting services at 516-640-1182.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/author\/jkennedy"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/225"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19051"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19051\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19105,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19051\/revisions\/19105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}